WEC 51 main-card recap: Champ Aldo KOs Gamburyan, Cerrone tops Varner

http://mmajunkie.comBROOMFIELD, Colo. – Another WEC title defense, another outmatched and easily defeated opponent.

Further solidifying his standing as one of the world’s pound-for-pound kingpins, WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo made quick work of challenger Manny Gamburyan and posted an early-second-round knockout victory.

The title fight headlined WEC 51 and took place Thursday at the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colo. The night’s main card aired on Versus.

Gamburyan struck first with a right hand that knocked his opponent off
balance. But Aldo quickly reset, circled the center of the cage, easily
sidestepped Gamburyan’s punches and short reach, and delivered a few low
kicks to close an otherwise uneventful first round. (In a sign of
sportsmanship, Gamburyan complained of an eyepoke, and when referee Herb
Dean refused to issue a timeout, Aldo dropped his hands and allowed his
opponent time to recover.)

But in the second round, world-beater Aldo
quickly emerged. After popping his opponent with a left-right combo and
an counter right when Gamburyan shot in, Aldo saw his opening. He
quickly pounced on the challenger, battered him with punches, continued
the assault as Gamburyan fell to his knees, and then unloaded a couple
dozen unanswered blows from behind.

Gamburyan briefly went out cold, which prompted the ref’s intervention. The TKO stoppage officially came at the 1:32 mark of the second round.

“In the first round, I was just studying to see what he was going to do,” Aldo said through a translator. “When I came back in the second round, I just put all the work we’ve been doing in the gym into the cage, and I was able to knock him out.”

The victory marks the 11th straight win for Aldo (18-1 MMA, 8-0 WEC), who hasn’t tasted defeat in nearly five years. Gamburyan (11-5 MMA, 3-1 WEC), who had been a roll since his move over from the UFC, suffers his first WEC loss.

In the night’s co-headliner, years of trash-talking had produced a bitter rivalry, and the bad blood created one hell of a rematch between former lightweight champ Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone.

Varner and Cerrone’s first meeting took place at WEC 38 and ended with
somewhat of a question mark after Cerrone threw an illegal knee at the
then-champ Varner in the fifth and final round. Cageside doctors
ruled Varner unable to continue, and judges ruled him the
technical-decision winner after tallying the scorecards up to the final
round.

Cerrone has questioned Varner’s manhood ever since, and WEC officials were wise enough to capitalize on the feud and book a rematch.

Cerrone struck first in the opening round with a knee to the head that wobbled his opponent. Varner survived, dodged a dangerous flying knee and quickly found range with his hands, including a couple straight lefts that stunned “Cowboy.” The back-and-forth and high-energy action continued through the first round, which MMAjunkie.com awarded to Cerrone, 10-9.

But as the rivals entered the second, the pace began to slow, and both attempted takedown attempts as Varner dealt with an apparent injury to his left eye.

Up two rounds to none, Cerrone finally touched gloves with his opponent to start the third. But the ill will showed no signs of simmering. Varner still had plenty in the tank, but a right punch and a left kick to the face left a steady stream of blood pouring from his nose. Undeterred, Varner soon found his range and battered Cerrone with power punches from all angles. Miraculously, Cerrone shook off the blows and scored a key takedown with two minutes remaining. Sensing his deficit, Varner muscled his way back to the standing position, but their reserves tapped, each fighter could do little but throw single leg kicks and power punches from distance to close out the round.

After an awkward post-fight confrontation – Cerrone initially signaled for an embrace only to use his forearm to push Varner away – the scores were read. And they were unanimously in favor of Cerrone, who earned the decision via scores of 30-27 on all three judges’ cards.

So is the feud now over?

“Hell nah – no way,” said Cerrone (12-3 MMA, 5-3 WEC), who offered to fight Varner in a rubber match during the WEC’s December trip to Arizona. “I want to be one up on him.

“I want to keep fighting. I’m not looking for any title shots or anything like that. I just want to keep fighting and keep improving.”

So, is Varner open to a trilogy of fights?

“I don’t know what to do with this guy,” said Varner (16-4-1 MMA, 4-2-1 WEC), who acknowledged his opponent’s improvement since their first fight. “He acts like my friend, we shake hands, and then he’s pissed off. Arizona is my hometown. I gave you guys one hell of a fight here. I wouldn’t mind settling the score there.”

In bantamweight action, Miguel Torres avoided certain disaster in the form of a three-fight losing streak with an impressive and vintage performance that led to a second-round submission victory over longtime WEC fighter Charlie Valencia.

After his legendary 37-1 run, which included winning the WEC’s bantamweight title and emerging as one of the organization’s top stars, Torres lost his belt to Brian Bowles and then suffered a submission defeat to Joseph Benavidez. Hoping to avoid a three-fight losing streak and desperately in need of a quality win, he was matched up against Valencia, who had climbed into title contention with a three-fight win streak.

After a cautious but controlled start to the first round, Torres let his hands fly late and dropped his opponent with a flurry of punches. With Valencia on the mat and forced to cover, Torres unloaded a quick barrage of blows that were halted only by the end of the round.

In the second, Torres picked up right where he left off. After stuffing a takedown, he rocked Valencia with a punch and then knocked him down again with a knee to the kisser. Torres (38-3 MMA, 6-2 WEC) then followed him to the mat, took his back, locked in a rear-naked choke, and then forced a tap-out from Valencia (12-6 MMA, 5-4 WEC) at the 2:25 mark

“It was an opportunity to evolve,” said Torres, who worked with famed Georges St-Pierre trainer Firas Zahabi for the fight. “My losses showed me I have room to grow.”

Few people gave George Roop much of a chance against fellow featherweight Chan Sung Jung. Not the oddsmakers – and surely not the ever-growing legion of “Korean Zombie” followers.

But when talking about a 6-foot-1 145-pounder with crazy reach and light feet, funny things can happen.

Roop, who first rose to prominence as a cast member on “The Ultimate Fighter 8,” used a stick-and-move game plan, high kicks set up by jabs, and constant movement to frustrate his flat-footed opponent. Perhaps a little too patient, Jung essentially gave up the first round as Roop was the first to the punch and constantly pressing the action.

And it finally paid off in the second, when Roop connected on a left shin to his opponent’s chin. Knocked out cold on his feet, Jung’s legs buckled, his knee crashed into and cut open his forehead, and he fell to his back with his limbs outstretched. The shocking and highlight-reel knockout came just 90 seconds into the round.

“I’m a long fighter, and I knew he was going to come in real aggressive,” said Roop, who’s all but guaranteed “Knockout of the Night” honors for the event. “I just thought my precision striking was going to win the fight.”

With the victory, Roop (11-6-1 MMA, 1-1-1 WEC) likely salvaged his WEC career following an earlier decision loss to Eddie Wineland and a split draw with Leonard Garcia. Despite his popularity, Jung (10-3 MMA, 0-2 WEC) remains winless in the WEC and faces an uncertain future.

The night’s first televised bout was all but guaranteed to deliver fireworks, and for the most part, featherweight strikers Mark Hominick and Leonard Garcia didn’t disappoint.

But in the end, Hominick’s more-technical approach – including a remarkably effective counter-left jab – won out over Garcia’s raw aggression and wild striking and led the Canadian kickboxer to a decision victory.

“We knew Leonard has a big right hand,” Hominick said. “We wanted to make him miss and make him pay for missing. That was the game plan.”

Hominick was content mixing in low kicks with counter strikes from the pocket. Garcia would be walked into the cage and then explode forward with wild hooks and big looping overhand punches. But few landed, and a patient Hominick continually chipped away with the accompanying openings. Garcia’s crowd-pleasing style won over one judge, but Hominick earned the victory via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) in the end. MMAjunkie.com scored it for Hominick, 30-27.

Hominick (19-8 MMA, 3-2 WEC) now has won three consecutive fights under the WEC banner and four overall. Garcia falls to 14-6-1 (4-3-1 WEC).

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